Monks in ritual costume during the Long Life Offering Ceremony for His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Main Tibetan Temple in Dharamsala, HP, India on March 4, 2015. (Photo courtesy/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL)

(TibetanReview.net, Mar05, 2015) – Five Tibetan groups and associations came together to make a long-life offering to Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on Mar 4 morning at the Tsuglakhang, the main Buddhist temple in Dharamshala, India. Addressing the capacity-packed gathering on the Tsuglakhang courtyard on a bright but chilly morning, the Dalai Lama said he was in good health, apart from a minor knee problem, and expressed confidence that he would live to be more than 100 years old.

The Dalai Lama, 79, said that Tibetans should strive to live up to their reputation for warm-heartedness and that a person’s own good practice is actually the best offering.

The Amitayus, the Buddha of Longevity, ritual was performed by monks of Mindrolling and Dorje Drak Monasteries and presided over by Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche, the current Supreme Head of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

The long-life offering was made jointly by the Belgian Tibetan Association, the Tibet United Association (Chigdril Tsogpa), Representatives of the Lhasa District Long-Life Ceremony Committee, the Lhoka People’s Association and the Dharamshala Shopkeepers’ Welfare Association.